Shut Up and Hold Me
by CinnyMon
Summary: For Slouchingtyger. Leon, a new agent of the B.S.A.A, is sent to Arizona to do recon work on Neo-Umbrellan. Not everything goes as planned though when he runs into old faces and some not so old creatures. Leon x Ashley. Rated M for major ammounts of gore.


Shot two – for Slouchingtyger who requested a Leon/Ashley fic. I'm not a real big fan of Leon/Ashley as it stands, but to my greater surprise, I enjoyed writing this piece. As you can tell, I wrote this when I was hungry…yes; I wanted a meatball sub, just like Leon did. Can you blame the man or me? They're fucking delicious.

_Disclaimer:_ I do not own any of the places mentioned, or any of the characters in this fanfiction. I am not making any money off of this. Resident Evil is property of Capcom.

--

Leon sighed for the umpteenth time, each time, clutching the steering wheel a little tighter. The B.S.A.A. had set him out to flipping _Nowherevill_, Arizona, claiming that what was left of Umbrella – along with Tricell – were collaborating the rise of a 'Neo-Umbrella'. Leon personally thought that the conspiracy theories by his employers were shit. He didn't believe an ounce to their stories of new zombie testing facilities being posted in isolated parts of Arizona.

What he believed was that he was tired, pissed off, and craving a meatball sub sandwich, for a reason beyond his understandings. All that surrounded him was rocks, rocks, and even more rocks – there wasn't even anything remotely interesting about the scenery.

Turning his air conditioner onto its coolest setting, Leon pressed a little harder on the accelerator, carelessly breezing past a sign that said SPEED LIMIT 70 MPH. He was easily going 90, if not more. No one beside himself was on the road. He couldn't even spot a hidden police cruiser on the road. He chalked it up in his mind; not under Umbrella suspicions, but under the fact that this place was so far away from _normality_ that they probably didn't even have cars. Hell, they probably still used outhouses instead of bathrooms.

Speaking of bathrooms, Leon squirmed in his seat a little, having to go. He passed by another road sign that said Delton, 10 miles. The blonde did a little mental dance as he zipped by the green sign. Delton was his destination point, and after a whopping 15 hours in the car, he was ready to get out. Unfortunately, the B.S.A.A. had ruled out flying, complaining that Umbrella and Tricell could easily track his movements and intercept him at the airport, effectively taking him out.

"I hate cars," Leon hissed to no one in particular.

The agent began to slow as soon as he noticed that a building was coming into view. Creeping his car to no more than a crawl, Leon felt like an overzealous hunter, stalking its prey. A smile soon broke out on his face once he realized the insignia on the building.

Subway.

"Thank you, Jesus." He said stupidly. Pulling his car into the parking lot, he killed the engine, but instead of getting out, he just sat there. The lights in the facility were on, but something was just striking Leon as…wrong.

He opened the glove box on the passenger side and removed an Israeli Desert Eagle – the very same gun that had gotten him through Raccoon City in one piece. He smiled ruefully at it then popped the magazine out, checking his bullets. He was currently holding 22, the gun's maximum capacity. He grabbed some ammunition from the glove box as well and pocketed it. The gun was carefully slipped into the holster on his left hip. Even though he was right handed, unsheathing his gun from his left side just seemed to come naturally to him.

He removed the keys and put them into a different pocket from the ammo. The last thing he needed to do was accidentally take out his keys when he was in a life of death situation and needed to reload. He opened the car door and slammed it shut, doing a sort of dance.

While he was suiting up his gun, he had completely forgotten that he had to go to the bathroom. He really hoped that this Subway didn't have a 'pay-to-use' sort of policy – he didn't think that he could hold it that long.

All but running into the establishment, Leon yanked on the door and was greeted by a rush of frigid air. Shivering, he ran for the men's room, simultaneously failing to notice that there was no one in the restaurant (if one could call a Subway that…). No one was behind the deli counter, no one was in the main eating room…there wasn't even a whisper.

Quickly, Leon claimed a urinal, did his business, and went to wash his hands. The cheery music that usually played over the loudspeaker was quiet. The steady _drip-drip-drip _of the sink next to him was the only source of noise. Soaping up his hands, Leon knew for certain that the B.S.A.A. was onto something. It might not have been Umbrella or Tricell, but something was exceedingly wrong with the picture that Leon was in.

Leon made a move to shut off the sink when one of the stall doors creaked open, making a pitiful scream, just like in a predictable horror film. The hairs on the back of Leon's neck stood erect. He silently shut off the tap and wiped his hand on his jeans, fingering at the Eagle on his hip.

"Alright, Romero, just bring out your three ring circus." He muttered dryly. Removing his gun, he took aim then slowly moved sideways, not taking his eyes off the back wall. The door was still, as if it never moved at all, but that didn't relax Leon, not one bit. At least, not until he put a bullet into someone's brain. He crept at the pace of a snail, his anxiousness and uneasiness growing with each stride.

He kicked open a stall door as he walked past, proving it to be empty. Frowning, he proceeded, kicking open the next one, which was exactly like the other; empty. The final stall was a handicap one – large naturally – which for some reason gave Leon a fright. He didn't like this. The last one was already opened slightly and Leon knew that this was it, that this was the moment of truth.

Suddenly, his shoulder was grabbed and a feral cry sounded. Leon would later deny it, but at the present situation, he screamed. He didn't need to turn around to identify that it was a zombie clinging to him; the rank odor was more than enough. Thinking fast, and hoping that the undead person was light, he grabbed at the creature's skull and yanked at it, bringing his knee up at the same time. He bent down slightly and the _thing's_ skull made contact with the kneecap, splitting open the rotting appendage.

Leon dropped the living dead, once a lithe teenage boy, who was groaning unintelligibly and writhing on the floor, no doubt intoxicated by the smell of it's own blood. Another one of it's kind came Frankenstein walking out of the handicapped bathroom stall, but instead of setting it's sights on Leon, it bent down to it's fallen comrade and plunged it's hands into his cracked skull. Leon watched in horrified awe as the zombie pried the head into literally two pieces, the audible snap of bone echoing throughout the empty men's room. It was like the undead was bobbing for apples as he plunged his face into the graying pink runny matter, except he was bobbing for human brains.

Taking aim, Leon shot the feasting zombie the ear to get its attention, blowing it clear off. It moaned and looked up, veins and internal tissues hanging out of _her_ mouth. Leon only had a second to read that the nametag on the girl's shirt read Darcy, before a foreign bullet exploded her head, and a thick red liquid _whooshed _and splattered the walls.

"Don't waist your ammo." Came a familiar voice. "You'll end up worse than dead."

"Ashley?" Leon spun around, his eyes widening.

The blonde girl giggled, disengaging her semi-automatic rifle. "No, it's Santa."

"You…how did you…where…argh!" He pinched the bridge of his nose, warding off an eminent headache. He placed the Desert Eagle back into its holder. "Mind explaining?"

"I will. But first, let's get out of here," She flashed him a smile, "It stinks like something _died_ in this place. You men need to learn to take better care of your bathrooms."

"Yeah," Leon murmured, rolling his eyes. "Bathrooms."

--

"So you work for the B.S.A.A. too?" Leon asked, kicking a bullet riddled corpse out of a booth.

"Yup." Ashley grabbed the ponytail of a zombie woman and yanked her up by it. Carelessly, she tossed her aside and sat down across from Leon.

"So, what have you been up to?" She asked, taking off her semi-auto and placing it next to her.

"Same old, same old." Leon admitted. "Shooting things, jumping from high places, getting jackasses for employers, you know, B.S.A.A. stuff?"

"Trust me, I'm on your side. I'm here with another agent named Fadi Kopieniak but he's off exploring the rest of Delton." She ran a hand through her hair.

"At least you get a partner." Leon grumbled. He coughed discreetly into his hand and massaged his temples. "So, what made you want to join B.S.A.A?"

"The whole Los Illuminatos incident." She said, getting misty eyed, but it was gone before Leon could further think of it. "I decided that I didn't want anyone to live through what I did, or see what I did. I don't want any more people to turn into…that…" She pointed at the two bodies that they had cleared out of the booth.

"It was hell." Leon agreed.

"ASH! ASH, QUICK!" Someone from outside screamed. Gunfire mixed in with god awful, beastly growls.

"Duty calls." Ashley stood up.

Leon did too. "I'm coming with you."

"Whatever." She slung the rifle back over her shoulder and pushed past Leon. Her gaze had glazed over, changing from innocent and playful Ashley, to a calm and deadly killer. Quite truthfully, it unnerved Leon.

"Hurry." She yelled over her shoulder and was out the door.

Leon followed in suit, taking out the Desert Eagle and running out the door. Ashley and a boy with leopard spotted hair, who he assumed was Fadi, were firing rapidly at a grotesque looking monster, around 200 yards away from them. It was walking like an ape, but it was tiled like a snake, with purple scales and dark, blood red slits for eyes. It easily surpassed the height of an average sized man, and looked like it weighed around a ton, give or take a little. It had a long, crocodile like snout, and thin spikes stood proud on it's ugly back.

"Fuck!" Fadi yelled, "Where the hell is the chopper?"

"I don't know!" Ashley moaned, "Just keep firing!"

"Chopper?" Leon stared at the two before opening fire. "What chopper?"

"This whole place is set to blow." Fadi said simply, reloading his semi. "Nukin' it down."

"But what about survivors?" Leon asked, knowing how scary it was to think that the government was just going to willingly condemn you to death.

"None. Ash n' I have been here for at least a day." He said, flipping his hair out of his eyes.

"Sorry Leon." Ashley apologized, not pausing in her hail of bullets. She slowly was backing up, as was Fadi. Leon looked at his surroundings, trying to formulate a plan, seeing as though this creature seemed to be immune to bullets. The helicopter also seemed to be nowhere in sight.

A Dunkin' Doughnut sign caught his eye. The creature – _Snake, that's what I'll call it­_ – was now only 50 yards off or so. "Fire at the sign!" Leon yelled.

"What are you, nuts?" Fadi gritted his teeth, set on taking down Snake.

"He knows what he's talking about, just _do it _Fadi!" Ashley all but screamed.

"You crazy son of a –" What ever Fadi had to say was cut off by his yells as he fired at the sign. Snake was only now 20 yards away.

"Grenades?" Leon asked.

"One. Fadi has it." Ashley suddenly held her semi-automatic like a baseball bat. Then it hit Leon; she was out of bullets, so she was going to try and club it.

"Ash!" Her partner paused and flipped her a box of ammo. Big mistake. Snake's tongue lashed out from 30 feet away, wrapping itself around Fadi's neck. The boy squealed and dropped his semi to the ground as he was lifted up, even higher than the monster's head.

"Fadi!" Leon and Ashley chorused as Fadi clawed weakly at the slimy wet tongue. Snake paid them no mind as it pulled the tongue back into its mouth, along with Fadi, who was screaming the whole way. A disgusting wet slurping sound was made as Fadi disappeared into the beast's stomach.

"No…" Ashley whispered, her knees feeling weak. She swallowed and backpedaled, reloading her weapon with Fadi's ammunition, then screamed. "NO! YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"Ashley, wait!" Leon cried out, not wanting her to befall the same fate as her partner. She opened fire at the beast's stomach, the bullets slicing at it sadistically yet still it acted like it could feel no pain, rampaging forward with blood on it's crocodilian snout. Ashley made a move to run, but Leon grabbed her arm, pointing overhead. "Look!"

It was the chopper.

For some reason, instead of making her feel better, the sight of the helicopter only fueled her rage towards this beast. She struggled against Leon's hold, "Let me go!"

"No way, princess." He dragged her farther away, but ever persistent, Ashley was still firing, tears running down her face.

In the air, the helicopter preformed a 180 and faced Snake, revving up its turrets. The spun and then opened fire on the animal's back, splitting it wide open. It screeched in agony and arched away from the pain, trying to run at Leon and Ashley, but it was futile. One of the bullet's successfully sailed through Snake and more and more followed in pursuit until the creature was unevenly bisected with bits of gore and guts painting the pavement around it. Within the dead creature, Leon could clearly see the dissolving face of the boy who worked with Ashley. He steered her clear away from the bloody wreckage.

"Come on, Ashley, we can go home now." Leon cooed, running his hands up and down her arms. She just nodded and gazed at the corpse, catching dead and horrified face of Fadi as she walked past.

"Leon…" She whispered, "Thank you…I would have gotten killed, if you weren't there to stop me…"

"All in a day's work." He smirked. She hit him on the shoulder playfully, and then sighed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, its just that…we'll have to split as soon as we get back to HQ." She wiped at the drying tears on her face, "I don't want you to leave."

"Then it looks like I'll have to take up a partner request, hunh?" He smiled. She looked up at him, "You mean it?"

"Defiantly."

"Thank you." She repeated. The two watched as the helicopter sailed overhead and parked by the Subway where it all started. They slowly made their way over to it, walking in silence as they did such. The pilot already had the door open for them and they dutifully stepped in. Leon questioned about his car, but the man waved it off, saying that another agent was already on the task of getting him a newer and sleeker one.

The ride back was fairly quiet with Ashley gazing out the window, and Leon playing with the gun on his hip, flicking the safety on and off.

"When will they nuke it?" Leon asked finally, a question that had been gnawing at him ever since they left.

"Within the hour." She said, not feeling like striking up a conversation.

"You did great back there." Leon pressed, determined to make her talk.

"Thank you."

"So, how's your father do-"

"Leon." She snapped. "I'm not in the mood."

"You can't control those things, Ashley." Leon said softly.

"Yes, but that's the second person!" She yelled, hugging herself. "Fadi…and Lu-Luis…"

Leon felt a wave of depression sweep over him. Between the two of them, the name Luis was somewhat of a taboo. He couldn't bring himself to say anything, so he simply wrapped his arms around her, and chuckled as he felt her go rigid to the touch.

"I won't bite." He whispered into her ear.

"Leon…" She tried to reprimand, but it was only half-heartedly.

"Please, smile?" Leon begged. When Ashley did nothing, he pressed a kiss into her hair, making her squeak. Leon laughed at this and pressed another one to her cheek.

"Come on, smile." He repeated.

No response. She tried to push him away, but Leon would have none of that.

"Fine." He said and pressed a kiss onto her lips. Ashley froze like a statue, unsure of what to do. She really did like him, but he had turned her down in Spain, but was he starting things back up now? Confusedly, she kissed back.

"Now will you smile?" He asked.

"No," She said, the corners of her mouth quirking up a little bit, "But I will. In time."

"You're prettier when you smile."

"In time."

"I'm just saying that­­-"

"Leon?"

"Yes, Ashley?"

A smile. "Shut up and hold me."

--

Honestly, I don't like this.

**I thought I could do better, but I really liked the idea of Ashley not being the wimpy female character that she usually is portrayed as.**

**And just as a side note, when Leon says:**

"_Alright, Romero, just bring out your three ring circus."_

He's talking about George A. Romero, who's a very famous horror director, who's known for his countless amounts of gore and mutilation at every twist and turn (He made the Dawn/Day/Night/Diary of the Dead movies)

**REVIEWS AND REQUESTS ARE ACCEPTED.**

**SHOWSTOPPER WILL BE POSTED SOON.**


End file.
